Isaiah 37:8

8 The Assyrian official learned that the emperor had left Lachish and was fighting against the nearby city of Libnah; so he went there to consult him.

Isaiah 37:8 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 37:8

So Rabshakeh returned
To the king of Assyria his master, to give him an account how things went at Jerusalem, and that he could get no direct answer from the king of Judah, and to consult with him what was proper to be done in the present situation of things; leaving the army before Jerusalem, under the command of the other two generals. For that he should take the army with him does not seem reasonable, when Hezekiah and his people were in such a panic on account of it; besides, the king of Assyria's letters to Hezekiah clearly suppose the army to be still at Jerusalem, or his menacing letters would have signified nothing; and after this the destruction of the Assyrian army before Jerusalem is related: and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah;
a city in the tribe of Judah, ( Joshua 10:29 ) ( 15:42 ) , and lay nearer to Jerusalem than Lachish, where Rabshakeh left him; so that he seemed to be drawing his army towards that city, on which his heart was set. Josephus F21 makes him to be at this time besieging Pelusium, a city in Egypt, but wrongly; which has led some into a mistake that Libnah and Pelusium are the same: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish;
where he was, when he sent him to Jerusalem, ( Isaiah 36:2 ) , having very probably taken it.


FOOTNOTES:

F21 Antiqu. l. 10. c. 1. sect. 4.

Isaiah 37:8 In-Context

6 he sent back this answer: "The Lord tells you not to let the Assyrians frighten you by their claims that he cannot save you.
7 The Lord will cause the emperor to hear a rumor that will make him go back to his own country, and the Lord will have him killed there."
8 The Assyrian official learned that the emperor had left Lachish and was fighting against the nearby city of Libnah; so he went there to consult him.
9 Word reached the Assyrians that the Egyptian army, led by King Tirhakah of Ethiopia, was coming to attack them. When the emperor heard this, he sent a letter to King Hezekiah
10 of Judah to tell him: "The god you are trusting in has told you that you will not fall into my hands, but don't let that deceive you.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.